Menchville Makes It

Monarchs Come Back To Conquer Bethel

NEWPORT NEWS — For at least one evening, the Menchville Monarchs reign atop the Peninsula District boys basketball standings, one-half game ahead of the Denbigh Patriots, who plays tonight.

But it took a 37-point fourth quarter for Menchville (15-4, 13-3) to complete a phenomenal 74-62 come-from-behind victory against Bethel in a rare Thursday night game. The Monarchs' fourth-quarter explosion matched the total points they had scored in the first three quarters of the game.

Meanwhile, the Bruins (8-11, 6-10) fell apart offensively as Menchville's high-pressure defense forced turnover after turnover. In the final eight minutes, Bethel hit three baskets and committed as many turnovers (11) as points scored.

``Tuesday night against Warwick, we were trailing by 10 with 1:37 to play and came back,'' Menchville coach Greg Henderson said. ``Over the past two nights, this team has really impressed me.''

With 31 seconds left in the third quarter, Bethel had extended its lead to 48-31. It was at that point the impossible began to occur. Blake Brookman hit a 3-pointer from the right wing and Robert Jones nailed a NBA-distance 3-pointer at the buzzer to pull to within 51-37 entering the final quarter.

Jones' shot started a 26-5 run over the next four minutes. When it was over the Monarchs were on top 63-58, their fans were ecstatic and the Bruins were stunned.

After going 0-of-5 from beyond the arc in the first half, Menchville made 8-of-11 3-pointers in the second half - four each by Brookman and Jones. The pair could not miss in the fourth quarter, coming of screens and hitting from all over the court. Brookman finished with 19 points, while Jones and center Robert Atwell each added 16.

``I guess I was just feeling it,'' Jones said. ``I hit that one at the end of the third quarter and was just feeling it after that. I wanted to help my team get back into the game.''

With 3:02 to play, another Jones 3-pointer from the left wing made the score 66-58 - Menchville's largest lead of the game. Bethel's Tim Smith would score on a put-back with 2:43 to play, but that would be the Bruins last basket of the night.

Menchville hit all four of its free throws down the stretch and Jeff Eicher put an exclamation point on the comeback with a breakaway dunk for the final score of the night.

``That was the greatest feeling in the world'' Eicher said.

Bethel dominated the first half in taking a 30-12 lead at intermission. The Monarchs' Paul Michael, Menchville's leading scorer, was shut down inside and finished with just four points. On the boards, Smith and Reggie Proctor helped the Bruins to a 20-11 first-half rebounding advantage.

All that would change in the second half. While Bethel maintained an advantage on the glass, their shots stopped falling and Smith got into foul trouble early in the third quarter. Smith scored just nine of his team-high 21 points after halftime.

``I told the kids they played their tails off for three quarters,'' Bethel coach Craig Brehon said. ``But that has been the story of our season. In the fourth quarter we start to panic. We just need to keep improving and if we do that we will be a force in the playoffs.''

Tonight, Denbigh plays Warwick and can move back into a tie with Menchville for the district lead if they win. Tuesday the Monarchs and Patriots meet at Denbigh in the second-to-last game of the regular season. Denbigh won the teams' only other meeting this season 84-57 Jan. 8.

The regular season ends Feb. 11 with Menchville at Hampton and Denbigh at Bethel. Hampton enters tonight's contest against Heritage in third place, one-half game behind second-place Denbigh and one-half game ahead of the Hurricanes.

Bill Ray can be reached at 247-4963 or by e-mail at bray@dailypress.com